I barely need an excuse to view neighbourhoods where I haven’t been, before. Since Jennifer and Marianne were interested in seeing “Textile Town“, we got maps that oriented us to the train station at Nippori. As is usual in Tokyo, the exit at the subway is rather well marked.

The train platform is elevated, so we took the stairs down. Looking over my shoulder, there’s a gate with Japanese characters leading to the platform.

The streets aren’t rectilinear around Nippori. Walking out a little from the station and looking east, there’s a commercial area … but not textile stores.

Looking south, there were also storefronts, but the rag trade is a little farther on.

We headed south in the direction we thought correct. Apartment towers reveal the area to be mixed commercial and residential. Read more...(666 words, 37 images, estimated 2:40 mins reading time)

Wandered into park when contemporary art at Osaka Prefecture Government doesn’t exist anymore, then Museum of History closed today. Loose schedule, so riding subway around town not quite randomly. (Osaka Castle Park) 20150303

Graduate students for systems-inspired leaders in material science immersed in learning. Started with self-introductions of participants with narrow specialities, then exercise for pairs and trios to find a synthesis of their expertise. Lecture on systems concepts will be followed by more exercises. (Osaka Prefecture University) 20150303

Jazz fusion trio in Kyoto basement music venue. Stood for an hour on concrete floor for band to start, our group double the age of the target audience. Japanese music lovers appreciative but enthusiasm restrained as compared to western audiences. Fox Capture Plan opened, we stayed halfway though set by Jizue before jet lag suggested leaving early. (Club Metro, Kyoto, Japan) 20150301